creative writing degrees in texas

Best Creative Writing colleges in Texas 2024

Best creative writing colleges in texas for 2024.

The University of Texas at Austin offers 2 Creative Writing degree programs. It's a very large, public, four-year university in a large city. In 2022, 100 Creative Writing students graduated with students earning 81 Certificates, and 19 Master's degrees.

University of Houston offers 3 Creative Writing degree programs. It's a very large, public, four-year university in a large city. In 2022, 14 Creative Writing students graduated with students earning 8 Doctoral degrees, and 6 Master's degrees.

University of North Texas offers 1 Creative Writing degree programs. It's a very large, public, four-year university in a midsize city. In 2022, 4 Creative Writing students graduated with students earning 4 Master's degrees.

Southern Methodist University offers 1 Creative Writing degree programs. It's a large, private not-for-profit, four-year university in a large suburb. In 2022, 11 Creative Writing students graduated with students earning 11 Bachelor's degrees.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley offers 1 Creative Writing degree programs. It's a very large, public, four-year university in a midsize city. In 2022, 12 Creative Writing students graduated with students earning 12 Master's degrees.

The University of Texas at El Paso offers 3 Creative Writing degree programs. It's a very large, public, four-year university in a large city. In 2022, 44 Creative Writing students graduated with students earning 28 Master's degrees, and 16 Bachelor's degrees.

Sam Houston State University offers 1 Creative Writing degree programs. It's a very large, public, four-year university in a faraway town. In 2022, 4 Creative Writing students graduated with students earning 4 Master's degrees.

Texas State University offers 2 Creative Writing degree programs. It's a very large, public, four-year university in a small city. In 2022, 20 Creative Writing students graduated with students earning 20 Master's degrees.

The University of Texas at San Antonio offers 1 Creative Writing degree programs. It's a very large, public, four-year university in a large city. In 2022, 4 Creative Writing students graduated with students earning 4 Certificates.

University of Houston-Victoria offers 2 Creative Writing degree programs. It's a small, public, four-year university in a small city. In 2022, 7 Creative Writing students graduated with students earning 7 Master's degrees.

Find local colleges with Creative Writing majors in Texas

List of all creative writing colleges in texas.

Department of English

There is also a strong component of social engagement behind effective writing, and our creative writing workshops focus on the power of storytelling and poetics—how the written word reaches different audiences, connects diverse peoples,  and can change the world.

Career Paths

Effective written communication is one of the most valuable skillsets in the workplace. In every field, employers seek creative writers because of their ability to write poignant arguments, think critically, and develop original content. The following is a partial list of the different jobs available to graduates with an education in creative writing:

Dr. Curtis Bauer Program Director [email protected]

Diane Johnson Advising, Undergraduate [email protected]

Dr. Wyatt D. Phillips Advising, Graduate [email protected]

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26 Best colleges for Creative Writing in Texas

Updated: February 29, 2024

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Below is a list of best universities in Texas ranked based on their research performance in Creative Writing. A graph of 70.1K citations received by 6.4K academic papers made by 26 universities in Texas was used to calculate publications' ratings, which then were adjusted for release dates and added to final scores.

We don't distinguish between undergraduate and graduate programs nor do we adjust for current majors offered. You can find information about granted degrees on a university page but always double-check with the university website.

Please note that our approach to subject rankings is based on scientific outputs and heavily biased on art-related topics towards institutions with computer science research profiles.

1. University of Texas at Austin

For Creative Writing

2. Texas A&M University - College Station

3. University of Houston

4. Texas Tech University

5. University of North Texas

6. Rice University

7. Baylor University

8. University of Texas at San Antonio

9. Southern Methodist University

10. Texas State University

11. Texas Christian University

12. Trinity University

13. University of Texas at Dallas

14. University of Texas at El Paso

15. University of Texas Medical Branch

16. University of Texas at Arlington

17. Baylor College of Medicine

18. Texas Woman's University

19. University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

20. Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi

21. Sam Houston State University

22. University of Houston - Clear Lake

23. Texas A&M University - Commerce

24. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

25. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

26. Stephen F Austin State University

Closest to Texas states to learn Creative Writing

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2025 Best Creative Writing Schools in Texas

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 7 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Creative Writing Schools in Texas ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 276 degrees in creative writing annually.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

• Best Overall Creative Writing Schools List

Choosing a Great Creative Writing School

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Creative Writing Degree Level

The creative writing school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings , including this list of the Best Creative Writing Schools in Texas. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location .

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat . Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology .

Best Schools for Creative Writing in Texas

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the creative writing degree levels they offer.

Top Texas Schools in Creative Writing

The University of Texas at Austin is a good option for students interested in a degree in creative writing. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #46 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UT Austin is a great university overall.

There were roughly 100 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at UT Austin in the most recent data year.

Any student pursuing a degree in creative writing has to check out Southern Methodist University. Located in the suburb of Dallas, SMU is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #142 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means SMU is a great university overall.

There were about 11 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at SMU in the most recent data year.

Develop your creativity and gain practical skills with a creative writing degree program –featuring 100% online classes – through a bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.

Related Programs

• MFA in Creative Writing - Online
• MA in English & Creative Writing
• BA English in Professional Writing
• Low-Residency MFA in Fiction and Nonfiction

Texas State University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in creative writing. Located in the city of San Marcos, Texas State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #396 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Texas State is a great university overall.

There were about 20 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Texas State in the most recent year we have data available.

It's difficult to beat The University of Texas at El Paso if you want to pursue a degree in creative writing. Located in the large city of El Paso, UTEP is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 49th out of 115 schools for overall quality in the state of Texas.

There were about 44 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at UTEP in the most recent year we have data available.

Austin Community College District is a very large public college located in the city of Austin. This college ranks 20th out of 115 schools for overall quality in the state of Texas.

There were approximately 10 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Austin Community College District in the most recent year we have data available.

Located in the city of Edinburg, UT Rio Grande Valley is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 30th out of 115 schools for overall quality in the state of Texas.

There were about 12 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at UT Rio Grande Valley in the most recent year we have data available.

SFASU is a fairly large public university located in the remote town of Nacogdoches. This university ranks 39th out of 115 schools for overall quality in the state of Texas.

There were roughly 23 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at SFASU in the most recent data year.

Best Creative Writing Colleges in the Southwest Region

Explore all the Best Creative Writing Colleges in the Southwest Area or other specific states within that region.

Other Rankings

Associate degrees in creative writing, master's degrees in creative writing, bachelor's degrees in creative writing, doctor's degrees in creative writing.

View All Rankings >

Creative Writing Related Rankings by Major

Creative Writing is one of 4 different types of Writing Studies programs to choose from.

Most Popular Majors Related to Creative Writing

View All Creative Writing Related Majors >

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System ( IPEDS ) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s ( College Scorecard ).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to KOKUYO .

More about our data sources and methodologies .

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B.A. in English Creative Writing Concentration

The Bachelor of Arts in English degree provides a broad foundation in the study of writing and texts, including literature, film and media, and rhetoric. Students with a concentration in Creative Writing choose advanced workshop-style courses in fiction, poetry, screenwriting, and other forms of creative written expression. The degree culminates with a Senior Seminar in Fiction Writing or Poetry Writing.

General Requirements

In addition to general education requirements, all English majors take 36 hours of English courses, which include First-Year English and Sophomore Literature courses.

The following advanced English courses are required for all majors, regardless of concentration:

• Early Literature courses
• Single Author course
• 4000-level course

Students may satisfy multiple requirements with one course.

B.A. in English Creative Writing

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Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Major in English (Creative Writing Concentration)

Minimum required: 120 semester credit hours, general requirements.

• The general education core curriculum courses are listed in the degree plan below along with the statewide component code number. See the  General Education Core Curriculum  section of this catalog for the Texas State requirements and options in the core curriculum, including Honors courses.
• In addition to the general education core curriculum requirements, the  Bachelor of Arts degree  (B.A.) requires three additional hours of English literature, three additional hours of math/science/logic/computer science courses, six hours of 2000-level modern language courses, and a minor. For this program, the additional literature course may be satisfied by selecting a sophomore literature course for the 040 component of the core curriculum.
• Students must select a minor from the approved list of  Undergraduate Minors .
• Students must complete a minimum of 36 advanced hours (3000 or 4000 level courses).
• Nine hours of writing intensive (WI) courses are required for graduation.
• This major requires 36 semester credit hours of English courses. Within the 36 hours, students are required to complete six hours of early literature, three hours of literature focused on the work of a single author, and three hours of 4000-level literature. To satisfy the group requirements, students must select one course from 4 of the 5 groups. ENG 1310  and  ENG 1320  or ENG 1321 are recommended prerequisites to all other English courses.
• The minimum number of hours required for this degree program is 120. The number of free elective hours a student will complete depends on the number of hours a student may need to achieve the required 120 total or 36 advanced hours.

For transfer students, 12 semester credit hours in English (or equivalents) may be transferred from a Texas public institution of higher education for the English Language and Literature Field of Study and be applied to the Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English at Texas State University. More information about the Field of Study is available in the Academic Policies section of this catalog. The transferable Texas Common Course Number (TCCN) is listed below the Texas State University course number in the following course list.

Course Requirements 

Students who earn a grade of “B” or higher in the first sophomore course may elect to take an advanced literature course in lieu of the second sophomore course. No more than six hours of sophomore literature may count toward the major.

ENG 3301 is required, and students should take it immediately after completing the sophomore literature requirement.

An ENG Literature course may be selected from the following:  ENG 2310  (TCCN ENGL 2322),  ENG 2320  (TCCN ENGL 2323),  ENG 2330  (TCCN ENGL 2332),  ENG 2340  (TCCN ENGL 2333),  ENG 2359  (TCCN ENGL 2327),  ENG 2360  (TCCN ENGL 2328),  ENG 2371

Advanced English Courses

Students are required to take ENG 3301 , preferably immediately after completing the sophomore literature requirement. Students must also take two courses focusing on early literature at either the sophomore or advanced level. In addition to ENG 3301 , students must complete seven advanced courses. Students must take at least one advanced course from three of the four non-writing groups listed below (A, B, C, or D), and three specified courses from Group E: ENG 3315 and either ENG 3348 and ENG 4348 (fiction track) or ENG 3349 and ENG 4349 (poetry track). They also select one three-hour elective from any group. One of the advanced courses must focus on the works of a single author and is recommended to be taken at the end of the major.

May fall into other groups depending on specific course content.

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